Quick Look: Napoleon: Total War

Didn't they already do this?

When did this come up?

" Didn't they already do this? "

Woohoo!

The multiplayer on this one will be awesome.

yay, you brought in the heavy players ... sweetness    

Bill & Ted reference!
 
@Venatio said:

" Didn't they already do this? "

I want it in Europe now!

Damn it! I wanted to see the fricking tech tree. Are there new weapons of explosioning? I want more explosioning!

Where is the Deadly Premonition Quick Look? :P

Is'nt this a quick look EX?

Who is this "Mike" they speak of? And here I thought I had a fairly good idea about the Gigant crew..

Mike knows his RTS! Do we know if he can play StarCraft 2 and if he's going to be in the GiantBomb vs GiantBomb look at StarCraft 2?
I personally like me a knowledgeable person when it comes down to an RTS, they take quite a bit more then *Duck, Cover & Shoot*.

EDIT: Mike is an engineer I believe, working for Whiskey Media. I don't think we've ever seen him in a video. At least not on GiantBomb, just heard him talking a bit in the Arthur Quick Look.

Dave, you disappoint me!  Shogun was the first one, not Medieval!

this is the sort of thing that i like to watch, or play if i can win without using real skill.   strategy games don't do it for me playing the way they are designed to be played.  I like having a huge force and watching them wipe out the enemies.

I remember seeing this before, and no this is not a QL EX.

Pretty sure its only QLEX if a developer is playing it instead of a regular person. Developer playthroughs need a caveat, because the way a person who made the game plays may be very different from how an average gamer experiences the game. Also they may intentially avoid bad aspects of a game in order to create a misleadingly positive impression.

ah! looks like a loooot of fun!

Lol Napoleon's special forces got pwned

Oh wow... even the music is the same as Empire...
Oh well, still looks awesome for those who haven't touched Empire, but as for me... I'll stick with Empire.

Wow the guy Mike who is playing this QL is doing a poor job, although he admits his controlling isn't all that.  I kept wanting to slap the mouse out of his hand and do it for him, probably a good way to get me to buy the game.  The AI still shows deficiency where there's no line cohesion and guys are just hanging out while their buddies get shot up.  Oh well. 

"Hey you men from Maine, pull out your gun-knives." If only I had the rig to run this.

This is the second QL they have done for this game...  but I can't find the first QL, maybe this one over wrote it. Looks cool, but I already have Empire and it just looks to much the same.

The Total War series has never gotten back to the level of polish and attention to detail that was in Shogun Total War, but they're still pretty quality products.
 
More Mike and Dave, more strategy game features!

The French keep running away, very authentic.

" Who is this "Mike" they speak of? And here I thought I had a fairly good idea about the Gigant crew.. "

Look for Gandalf in the East!

"They take time to get their shit together"
 
from now on when my puckle guns are taking ages to get to the front, i'll say this immortal line

The military engineer that O.K.ed that forts construction with a freaking forest against one wall should probably l2p!

SAN DIMAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES!!!!!!!!

So I imagine what happened here was they started recording the QL and about 4 minutes in.... 
 
Ryan: Alright I'm calling it. 
Jeff: Yup, let's wrap this up. 
Vinny:(Waits for Jeff and Ryan to leave) See Mike, told you they'd get out of our way in about 2 seconds.  Let's record the real QL now.

They shouldn't let someone from the development team be at the helm during a Quick Look. It ruins it completely. I want regular players to play it, that's when the proper impressions are formed.

I like the quickness of the quicklook - showed me all I have to know and see.  
 
I appreciate these games from a very far distance (the technical aspects, the failing AI, game play mechanic, etc - improving with every game, but still nothing I want to 'play' (unless I have control of 'everything' or the flaws are blending perfectly with the fake/real war lore - still like Shogun. 

Looks the same as Empire, why did they say it looks better? I guess it just runs better and they can turn on higher settings with better framerate. 

Not sure which way to go on this game yet.  I do think that Total War always works much better with smaller, more focused campaigns, but on the other hand they are blatantly just double-dipping on Empire - and it looks like a whole bunch of the Empire problems with the dumb AI still exist.  This would be fine if they were charging regular expansion pack price, but they aren't. 
 
Personally, I think the level of AI required for ranged combat with this level of complexity is just beyond them.  This problem is only going to get worse the closer to the present they get.  If they can't manage "Don't fire your cannons straight into the ground / friendly troops 2 yards away", they certainly aren't going to be able to handle the decentralization of tactical control that you start seeing by the 20th century.  Maybe they should stick to melee settings.

@Funkydupe said:

" They shouldn't let someone from the development team be at the helm during a Quick Look. It ruins it completely. I want regular players to play it, that's when the proper impressions are formed. "

The "Rally Troops" thing is used to rally men who are wavering, but haven't broken yet. You kind of have to plan ahead.

I want this gameeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. 

" The French keep running away, very authentic. "

Played about 10 hours of it so far. AI improved big time on both the campaign and battlefronts. All-around much better game than Empire.

Just thinking about learning to play games like this does my head in.

The predictable AI was always my biggest complaint with the TW games, so I'm definitely picking this up. I love playing them too much not to.

i want this game now, it looks great.

I absolutely love the total-war games, but I really hope they go back to olden times (Rome, Shogun, Medieval) next, since I've always liked dealing with those tactics more than the gun-based combat.

" So I imagine what happened here was they started recording the QL and about 4 minutes in.... 
 
Ryan: Alright I'm calling it. 
Jeff: Yup, let's wrap this up. 
Vinny:(Waits for Jeff and Ryan to leave) See Mike, told you they'd get out of our way in about 2 seconds.  Let's record the real QL now. "

"
Personally, I think the level of AI required for ranged combat with this level of complexity is just beyond them.  This problem is only going to get worse the closer to the present they get.  If they can't manage "Don't fire your cannons straight into the ground / friendly troops 2 yards away", they certainly aren't going to be able to handle the decentralization of tactical control that you start seeing by the 20th century.  Maybe they should stick to melee settings.

"

Just in time for some delicious foodage.

I am pretty good at naval battles but my ground needs alot of work.
You have to turn the ships frequently so you can aim at the ship while also maneuvering to not get hit.
But the difficult thing is that you have to look after your other ships too...
Yeah these games are pretty hard.

" I'm glad Mike was playing, because after the King Arthur: The RPWG Quick Look (where he first appeared), it became clear that he was the only person in the office who actually understood RTS's for what they are. As far as the game is concerend, it's still Totar War. Having not played Empire I like the look of the naval battles. Interesting Quick Look. "